I’m a lapsed “Fringe” fan. I’ve missed episodes, but stayed in touch with the concept over the seasons. Lately it’s been worth the effort to catch up. Launching its fifth and final season (Fridays on Fox), the series sent a bold, typically sly message to viewers: “Resistance is futile,” says one of the bald, eyebrowless, black-suited and fedora-wearing Observers.

“I feel like I’ve heard that before,” the time traveling Fringe Team notes. Of course it’s a nod to the “Star Trek” fans out there, acknowledging the hive mind of the Borgs that’s referenced here. It’s also a message to the audience. Give in for the final ride. Resistance, especially once you see Walter (John Noble) demonstrate the awe-inspiring experience of listening to music, is futile.

Moving forward, the year is 2036, Olivia (Ana Torv) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) have been reunited with their now grown daughter Etta (Aussie actress Georgina Haig), the atmosphere is “Bladerunner”-ish, the fascist enemy looks like a WWII movie, and the battle to save humankind is on. Where there is music there is hope. Good enough reason to stay tuned through to the finale. Coming up, our heroes will meet a strange subculture in the woods, folks who are devoted to recording human history.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.